[R.I.P.]

I’ve got the same issue. Does not work if departure time set. Resets after 30 min shut down. Works fine if truck started from app or just started cold.
So my question is, does the battery condition it self if starting from app. My gutt feeling from reading posts is that it does not.
Kind of a catch 22.

Yes. Whereas I have not seen the Lightning's software specifically, I have never seen an EV with an actively managed pack that the conditioning does not start with the vehicle. Regardless of how you start it.

I'm going to circle back here, because it is important enough. If you leave your vehicle plugged in at night, it will use shore power to keep the battery pack ready to go. Call it your battery's happy place. When the vehicle is not plugged in, it conserves power by taking conditioning down a step, and just keeping the battery in safe zones. In safe zones, the battery should be safe from damage, but it may not be particularly happy about how cold it is.

What specific temperature triggers are being used in the Lightning software I don't know. I can tell you that Lithium packs are happiest between 70° and 90° F. They get pretty grouchy under 40°. OEM BMSs I worked on (it's been a while) would keep the pack no lower than 50° when it was plugged in, but would let it get down to 34° when not plugged in to save battery power. At 34°, a Lithium pack is not very happy.

Moral of the story is that if you can leave your vehicle plugged in at night when it is very cold, do so.

 

[Voltz]

I set the preferred departure time, and the heated steering wheel didn't work.

By any chance, do you have the Cabin Temperature dropdown menu in the Departure Time screen of the app set to OFF? Wheel's automatic in the other choices, but I'm pretty sure that OFF means OFF. My heated wheel was back to normal this morning (no departure time) after not working after the departure time set yesterday.

 

[G-Zeus]

By any chance, do you have the Cabin Temperature dropdown menu in the Departure Time screen of the app set to OFF? Wheel's automatic in the other choices, but I'm pretty sure that OFF means OFF. My heated wheel was back to normal this morning (no departure time) after not working after the departure time set yesterday.

Have tried it set to medium and to warm.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I figured there is a bug - I can reproduce this problem very easily…

set a depart time and warm, truck will warm up no problem but once you come in, the steering wheel is cold asf…doesn’t matter if you turn the button on or off…cycle the truck on or off…

but it resets itself once you park the truck for a while…

starting from the app heats up the steering wheel no problem and same if you are just using the truck normally - on/off cycles.

due to this bug I have abandoned departure times and just remote start for 30min

The only downside to this is battery preconditioning only happens when you use departure times while plugged in.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Yes. Whereas I have not seen the Lightning's software specifically, I have never seen an EV with an actively managed pack that the conditioning does not start with the vehicle. Regardless of how you start it.

I'm going to circle back here, because it is important enough. If you leave your vehicle plugged in at night, it will use shore power to keep the battery pack ready to go. Call it your battery's happy place. When the vehicle is not plugged in, it conserves power by taking conditioning down a step, and just keeping the battery in safe zones. In safe zones, the battery should be safe from damage, but it may not be particularly happy about how cold it is.

What specific temperature triggers are being used in the Lightning software I don't know. I can tell you that Lithium packs are happiest between 70° and 90° F. They get pretty grouchy under 40°. OEM BMSs I worked on (it's been a while) would keep the pack no lower than 50° when it was plugged in, but would let it get down to 34° when not plugged in to save battery power. At 34°, a Lithium pack is not very happy.

Moral of the story is that if you can leave your vehicle plugged in at night when it is very cold, do so.

Not quite. It seems Ford’s programming is different from what you described. Keeping a Lightning out Mach E plugged in will use shore power to keep the battery from getting severely cold soaked. If you want the battery in its happy place you have to precondition using the departure scheduling while plugged in.

per Darren Palmer:

 

[R.I.P.]

Not quite. It seems Ford’s programming is different from what you described. Keeping a Lightning out Mach E plugged in will use shore power to keep the battery from getting severely cold soaked. If you want the battery in its happy place you have to precondition using the departure scheduling while plugged in.

per Darren Palmer:

Um. Yikes. I can sure see some flaws in that design. 😕

 

[Dalpilot]

I have no set daily departure schedule.
I’ve got my Lightning set to charge to 80%. About an hour before I leave I tell the truck to charge to 100%. I start the truck about 15 min before departure. When I leave, the cabin, seats and steering wheel are warm. The extra hour of charging gives me a few extra percent of charge. I know it’s a work around but I always (so far) have a warm steering wheel, cabin and a warm battery. Hopefully some one at Ford will realize they have a bug in their program and fix it. But I’m not holding my breath.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Um. Yikes. I can sure see some flaws in that design. 😕

Agreed. I suspect we’ll see that change in a future PowerUp.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I figured there is a bug - I can reproduce this problem very easily…

set a depart time and warm, truck will warm up no problem but once you come in, the steering wheel is cold asf…doesn’t matter if you turn the button on or off…cycle the truck on or off…

but it resets itself once you park the truck for a while…

starting from the app heats up the steering wheel no problem and same if you are just using the truck normally - on/off cycles.

due to this bug I have abandoned departure times and just remote start for 30min

@Ford Motor Company : I tested preconditioning this morning and had the same issue. I scheduled a departure time with cabin heat set to warm, and kept the truck plugged in and charging. The truck woke up, heated the cabin and presumably preconditioned the battery. However, when I got in and started the truck the steering wheel would not heat up. The steering wheel heat “light” was on. I also turned the steering wheel heat on and off, still no heat.
With lots of people seeing this, can you confirm if we are encountering a known software issue?

 

[G-Zeus]

@Ford Motor Company : I tested preconditioning this morning and had the same issue. I scheduled a departure time with cabin heat set to warm, and kept the truck plugged in and charging. The truck woke up, heated the cabin and presumably preconditioned the battery. However, when I got in and started the truck the steering wheel would not heat up. The steering wheel heat “light” was on. I also turned the steering wheel heat on and off, still no heat.
With lots of people seeing this, can you confirm if we are encountering a known software issue?

Happened to me, in my 2nd day of ownership. I removed the departure time, but the wheel heat never returned. After I did some FDRS updates, the wheel heat started working again. But when I entered a departure time again, to test if the issue was fixed… it isn’t. And now my wheel heat is broken again, it won’t come back. Perhaps something with the update resets whatever is going on in some module, and makes it work. I don’t know why mine never works again, everybody else seems to get away with just removing the departure, waiting, and then having it work. No such luck for me.

 

[THEsocalledfan]

Who knew getting my heated steering removed would help me avoid a glitch?

 

[Enigma23]

The issue kinda explains why Ford removed it from new builds till supplier work out the problem.

 

[G-Zeus]

The issue kinda explains why Ford removed it from new builds till supplier work out the problem.

I managed to fix the situation - using Forscan and servicing the Steering Column Control Module (SCCM). Actually I also used that to increase the temperature of the wheel too! Now it’s nice and toasty.

As for why they removed it for new models, the explanation I have heard is a shortage of the necessary chips. No idea if it’s possible to add it back after the fact. I wouldn’t buy a vehicle without it!